One year ago (February 27, 2011) is the day I took one of many pregnancy tests. I had taken several and expected this to come out with the same results as the others, negative. I was sitting down at the computer with my mountain dew and decided, what the heck, I'll take a test to get it out of the way. I peed on that annoying little stick, sat it on the vanity in the bathroom and continued with my soda and Facebook. Roughly three minutes later I walked back, not rushing to see the results of the test. I looked closely several times before I could believe that the stick said positive. Of course Craig was still sleeping so I needed to wake him up. I held the little pee stick in my hand with a huge smile on my face and that's what he woke up to. We couldn't have been more excited. I immediately poured my mountain dew down the drain. I can't believe how easily I gave soda up while pregnant, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!
Alright so pregnancy went wonderfully and I had hardly any morning sickness. I don't say this to make others jealous, especially if they had terrible morning sickness. I say this because I know how fortunate I was to have such a wonderful and easy pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, it's still rough being pregnant. You have people always staring and asking questions, wanting to touch your belly and getting way, way to close and intruding your personal space. So on June 6, 2011 we found out what we wanted to hear. It's a boy! We had known so many people who had or were having girls, we just really wanted a boy first. It was the first grandson for my parents and Craig's parents. So we were pretty ecstatic to tell them the news. Of course, his Mom, sister, my Mom and sister were all with us when we found out. There were many, many tears. I had no idea it would be so hard finding out we were having a boy. All the sudden you have a crap ton of research to do. If you have a boy, you know what I'm talking about. Since this is not the place for that discussion, I'm not going to start into that topic. I will however say that we left Chester with what he was born.
So lets fast forward, my estimated due date was coming up, November 3, 2011. I wish I wasn't in such a rush to get him out. Had I read more into birthing and what not, I wouldn't have been so impatient. The third came and left and I was still very much pregnant. I was HUGE, seriously, I'm not kidding. Look!
See, I told you. People kept asking me if I was having twins. I would tell them no and they would ask, "Are you SURE?" I was certain I would be having a baby over the weekend. Everyone at work expected me to be gone Monday. Nope, I was still pregnant. They said I was making them uncomfortable just looking at me, uh, how do you think I felt? Finally the end of the work day was slowly closing in. I had felt some pain in my lower back, which I attributed to sitting in the chair all day. I also felt my stomach tighten, which I had attributed to whatever I had eaten for lunch, I figured my little guy didn't like what we had. So when I got home Craig and I went out to grab a bite to eat and when he shut the car off, I felt it again. Holy crap, what was that? Oh my gosh, that might have been a contraction. So we decided to relax a bit then go walk around the store. That definitely worked! We stopped off to get Taco Bell before returning home, yes I know, not the best food, but I love TB! When we sat down to eat, I was feeling so sick I couldn't finish it. I decided to get ready for bed and work since I decided I wouldn't be having a baby that night either. The very moment I fell asleep I woke up to the worst contraction yet. I had no idea what to look for because I wasn't timing the contractions and I hadn't lost the mucus plug. At one point I had three terribly painful contractions back to back to back and I just couldn't wait any longer. We called the doctor and headed to the hospital.
We got to the hospital and they admitted me. We arrive shortly before 11pm and my Mom so graciously arrive quickly to help with whatever I needed. I went through most of my labor without pain medicine. I did end up getting something to help ease it to try avoiding the epidural. I wish I hadn't gotten that. I also wish I hadn't labored on my back. So after several hours of labor I opted for the epidural. I just couldn't take it anymore, I was exhausted. I hadn't slept in thirty something hours and had been in labor since 11pm the night before. Instantly after the epidural I went from being stuck at 4cm all the way up to 9.5! Honestly, I'm glad I got the epidural at that point because the doctor was talking about pitocin and I was too exhausted to do it anymore. (I plan to have a different laboring/birthing plan for the next baby.)
Now lets fast forward a year. He's now walking and saying hey and hi, mommy and daddy. He's like an actual little person these days. Yes, he's always been a person, but now he has his own personality and he interacts with us. He always makes my bad days better, my good days even better and my heart a great deal bigger. I love being a mommy to a boy. There's just something so wonderful about little boys. I'm not saying girls aren't great, because they are, I'm sure.
For Chester's actual birthday, we took him to Jump n' Joeys for a little bouncy house fun. He really had a blast there. It was so perfect for us because we took him later in the evening when there weren't many people and ended up being the only people there for the majority of our time spent there.
When it came time to plan Chester's first birthday party, which we had two days after his birthday, it was extremely stressful. Of course I tried planning it since the day he was born, but obviously that was a tad too early. His first birthday was Yo Gabba Gabba themed. I'm not sure what we'll do next year, or if we'll even have a set theme of a certain show or such. I do know that I'll plan like crazy the last couple of weeks and stress myself out, I'm sure. Luckily his party went off without a problem thanks in large part to my Mom and Chester was surrounded by a lot of loving family and friends. Chester received a lot of wonderful presents and was so happy to play with all of them after his nap. I want to thank everyone again, who showed up to be apart of his special day. We have some amazing friends and family.
I can't wait to see what his next birthdays bring and what he asks for. I can't wait to see what kind of a person he turns into and what his interests are. I will wait though and enjoy the time he's little. I love my baby snuggles and the middle of the night nursing sessions. I love everything about our little boy, he's the most amazing baby and we're such lucky parents! Here's to you Monkey, may you have all the love in the world.